SHOCKER

03.15.12

China Replaces Powerful Politician

Lintao Zhang / Getty Images

And you thought the Republican presidential nomination race was intense. The Communist Party in China has dropped one of the nation’s most ambitious—and flamboyant—leaders. Bo Xilai was being considered to be on the party’s Politiburo Standing Committee, but now he’ll be replaced as Chongqing city Communist Party secretary. The news of Bo’s exit—it wasn’t clear if he had resigned or was booted—was delivered in a one-sentence statement by the Xinhua News Agency. In recent weeks, a scandal had erupted over the chief of police who he picked who enforced a crackdown on Chongqing’s gangs.